The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about delays in the Education Health and Care Plan process. This is because the Council has agreed an appropriate remedy.
The complaint
The complainant, whom I shall refer to as Miss X, complained about delay in the Education Health and Care Plan (EHC Plan) process for her son (Y). Miss X said the Council had failed to meet the relevant deadlines in the SEN Code of Practice.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
We investigate complaints of injustice caused by ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’. I have used the word fault to refer to these. Service failure can happen when an organisation fails to provide a service as it should have done because of circumstances outside its control. We do not need to show any blame, intent, flawed policy or process, or bad faith by an organisation to say service failure (fault) has occurred. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26(1), as amended) We provide a free service, but must use public money carefully. We may decide not to start or continue with an investigation if we are satisfied with the actions an organisation has taken or proposes to take. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(7), as amended)
How I considered this complaint
I considered information provided by the complainant and the Council.
I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
If the Council’s decision was to not issue an EHC Plan, it should have told Miss X by 20 February 2024. This is week 16 of the EHC Plan process. If the Council’s decision was to issue an EHC Plan, it should have done this by 19 March. This is week 20 of the EHC Plan process.
The Council has accepted delay in considering Miss X’s request that it issue her son with an EHC Plan. A lack of Educational Psychologists (EPs) has contributed to the delay. The failure to issue a decision amounts to service failure.
We are satisfied the Council is taking action to deal with the issues caused by a lack of EPs. In response to our findings in a previous case it sent us an action plan of its service improvements.
The Council has agreed to pay Miss X £100 for every four weeks of delay. This is to recognise the frustration and uncertainty caused by the delay. We consider this to be a suitable remedy and should be calculated as follows: If the Council refuses to issue an EHC Plan: £100 for every four weeks of delay from 20 February until the Council issues its decision.
If the Council issues an EHC Plan: £100 for every four weeks of delay from 19 March until the Council issues the final EHC Plan.
The Council has agreed a suitable remedy and is taking to steps to address the issue at the heart of this complaint. We will not therefore investigate.
Final decision
We will not investigate Miss X’s complaint because the Council has offered a suitable remedy for the identified injustice.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman